Earlier this week, Rebecca Gill, a friend of mine in the WordPress community, shared her personal story of how being diagnosed with LADA: a 1.5 diabetic who isn’t quite type 1 or type 2 changed her life for the better.

If I ever question myself, I am reminded quickly of the gifts diabetes has given me. I see my healthy son, I feel his bear hug, or I hear his words of pride and praise when he tells someone new that his mom is a diabetic who takes good care of herself.

The day I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I chose my son and his survival. The day I was diagnosed as a LADA, I chose to be a survivor.

It’s an inspirational post, but out of all the times I’ve talked to her, she never mentioned that she had LADA. It’s none of my business and I didn’t ask, but it reminded me that there are a lot of things I don’t know about the people I interact with on a daily basis in the WordPress community. Without her post, I might never have known this about her. Rebecca says it best:

I’ve known some people in the WordPress community for more than 6 years and yet, there is so much I don’t know about these people. Sure, I could follow them on Facebook, Twitter, etc and learn things based on what they share to the public, but without a good reason to do so, I feel like that’s akin to stalking. Just when you think you know someone, you realize you don’t know them at all.

I use my Facebook account and this site to let people know that I’m not as obsessed with WordPress as people might think. I have other interests such as good food, bird watching, trains, military aircraft, meteorology, astrology, the 90s, and more. Using these mediums, I specifically choose what I let people know about me. I feel like I’m a public person, but I do keep a lot of things to myself or to those who I consider personal friends.

Do I even want to know more about the personal lives of the people I interact with on a weekly basis? Yes and no. Yes, because it provides a foundation for a story because it adds context. No, because there are things I might find out that I can’t say which may really add to a story. Also, I have a big mouth and would rather not be entrusted with anyone’s personal secrets. I don’t want that burden anyways, so don’t give it to me!